Some of the best and most beloved casual games of the past several years -- Peggle, Bejeweled, and Plants vs. Zombies included -- came from the bright minds at PopCap, so when the studio announced recently that it would release smaller, edgier games under a new 4th and Battery label, we couldn't help but take notice. We just didn't expect the first game to focus on the graphic murder of flying horses.

It's long been assumed that PopCap Games was hard at work in their Seatlle-based headquarters on a new Plants vs Zombies game. However, today we found out that the next Plants vs Zombies game is taking a completely unexpected form. Not only will it diverge from its single-player roots, but it will also be debuting exclusively in China.

4th and Battery, an offshoot brand developed by PopCap Games to develop edgier and more risque games, announced yesterday evening that their first game was denied by Apple's approval process. This is more than a little bit surprising. Over the past year, the approval process has been little more than a formality for major games companies. Apple's banhammer has usually been reserved as a filter for porn-apps, or apps that just don't work.

Late last week we ran a story about a sale that PopCap Games, creator of the best-selling Plants vs Zombies and Bejeweled games was running to help victims of the tsunami in Japan. They discounted all of their iOS titles for 48 hours, and pledged to donate all of the proceeds to the Red Cross Japan Relief fund. We had no idea how successful to sale would end up being.

The highly celebrated casual games develop PopCap has announced today that for 48 hours, beginning Saturday at 12:01 AM PDT, all of their iOS games will be on sale. The proceeds of the sale will be donated to the Red Cross for Japan's tsunami relief fund. The sale ends at midnight on Sunday March 20. For the duration of the sale, all of their iPhone games will be reduced to 99 cents and iPad games will be $1.99.

If you have a project to finish or a test coming up, do not play Bejeweled. Don’t even launch it, thinking you can clear your head for 5 minutes before getting back to work. Hours later your stomach is rumbling, you have three missed phone calls, and your legs are asleep.

Two days ago, the cool cats at PopCap Games released the long-awaited Bejeweled 3. The newly released title features beautiful, high-definition graphics, amazing sound and music, four additional game modes from its predecessor, and an unlock and achievement structure centering around 65 achievement badges to be earned through gameplay.

In short, your brain, Mac and free time once again belong to a Bejeweled game.

In spite of its sequel status, the core gameplay in Bejeweled 3 remains much the same as the original: shift the jewels around the board to form identically colored chains of three or more in order the clear the jewels, score points and move on to the next level. As classic as this may be, the designers over at PopCap went several steps further, dreaming up a slew of new games modes that both retain the core gameplay of the series (as well as its incredible simplicity) while adding in new ways to play and achievements to unlock.

Without further ado, here's what several hours of wonderfully wasted game time were able to divulge as to how best to play the new modes.

Even if you’re just a casual gamer, you’ve probably heard of PopCap Games -- at least by some of their game titles alone. The company’s blockbuster hits include Bejeweled and Plants vs. Zombies, and their CEO recently sat down for a chat on the state of iOS gaming and more.

If you're a huge addict of Plants vs. Zombies like we are here at Mac|Life headquarters, then you'll love this rumor: a teaser image sent out in an email blast over the weekend has PopCap asking fans of the franchise to save the date for August 2nd. The image also suggests that this event might have something to do San Francisco, but that part is still unclear.